The Book Of Questions
by jenorama
Summary: Hermione has a book of thought-provoking questions and Ron gets ahold of it. This was originally written in 2004 as part of my "Reconnecting" Potterverse. As I've been posting my older works, I've been doing some editing to bring them a bit more up to date, but I'm leaving this one as is. It's one of my favorites and I hope you enjoy it.


Sixteen year-old Harry Potter lay on his back on the couch, hands folded against his stomach and felt the drowsy heat of the evening overtake him. The air in the lounge of the Burrow was still quite warm from the heat of the day despite all of the open windows. After a few moments of oddly undisturbed quiet, he roused himself and took a glance at his watch. Barely eight o'clock and he was down for the count. He sat up and shook his head, his overlong fringe of dark hair falling into his eyes. Brushing it out of the way, he stood up and looked around the room for Ron and did not see him. Harry shrugged and wandered into the kitchen, finding it empty as well.

"Where is everyone?" he said softly to himself, getting a glass out of the cupboard for lemonade. He knew that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were at Order headquarters for a meeting and should be back around 10 or so. The twins hadn't lived at the Burrow since opening their shop in Diagon Alley and they were probably at the meeting too. He took a long drink of the cold lemonade and felt some of his drowsiness leave him. Leaning on the counter, he listened to the house, but didn't hear anything other than the ghoul up in the attic and the normal sounds of an old house settling deeper into the earth.

He finished his lemonade and rinsed the glass out, leaving it in the sink. 'I wonder if Ron is up for a game of chess,' he mused as he made his way upstairs to the room he was sharing with Ron for the summer. As he passed Ginny's door, he thought he heard something. Frowning, he paused for a moment and listened. Sure enough, he heard Hermione and Ginny giggling. Over what, he didn't know but as he listened to Ginny's muffled giggles and words, he felt a warm heat quite unrelated to the summer evening fill him.

Due to the heat of the day, Mrs. Weasley had taken pity on the kids that afternoon and called off the day's scheduled de-gnoming of the garden and had gone so far as to pack them a generous picnic lunch and shoo them off to the pond on the property. Never one to argue when presented such a golden opportunity for slacking off, Ron and Harry had immediately ran up to Ron's room to change into trunks and tee shirts, grab their brooms and scooted out the door. So quickly had they moved that they almost crashed into the girls still on their way up the stairs.

Exhilarated by the freedom, the two boys had made several loops around the field the Weasley family used for a Quidditch pitch at top speed and before long, they spied the two girls coming down the path with the large basket between them. Swooping down, they gallantly offered to carry it for them, grunting at the weight when the girls unceremoniously dumped it into their arms.

Directed by Hermione, they set down the basket and spread out blankets the girls had brought and set up the Weasley's old beach umbrella to provide shade from the worst of the sun. The thing was quite old and required a lot of finesse to get it to stay open and not fall over, but with a lot of grunting and cursing from Ron and Harry, it was done. "Now don't you dare touch it. I'm not going through all that rubbish again," Ron had admonished Hermione who simply fixed him with an irritated glare.

Set up chores done, it was time to enjoy the water. Glancing over at Ginny, Harry hesitated just a moment before taking off his shirt. 'What the hell am I nervous about? She's got six brothers for God's sake. Just do it, Potter!' With quick movements, he removed his glasses and doffed his shirt, dropping both carelessly to the blanket. With a grin at Ron, he dashed for the dock and took a huge leap off the end, landing in the cold water with a shout.

The water felt delicious as Harry swam around, getting into a splash fight with Ron. He looked over to where the girls were still sitting under the umbrella and grinned, looking sideways at Ron. He saw his friend's almost imperceptible nod and they moved forward, slow and casual, to the end of the pond closest to the blanket. "Do it and it'll be the last thing you ever do, Weasley," said Hermione, not taking her eyes off of her book. Ginny looked at them and hid her giggle behind her hand, her brown eyes sparkling.

"Aw, come on Hermione," Ron entreated, "the water's great. There's no way you can be comfortable on that blanket in the heat." Hermione didn't move and he began to look frustrated and then he smiled. Uh-oh, Harry thought, unconsciously moving away from his friend. "Hermione Jane," Ron crooned in a singsong voice.

Hermione looked up from her book and raised an eyebrow. "Ronald Bilius," she mocked in the same tone. Harry groaned. Nothing good could come of this. Nothing good usually did.

"I have a question for you, Hermione Jane." Ron swam a bit closer to the edge of the pond.

"What?"

"If Vicky couldn't say Hermione properly, why didn't you just have him call you Janie?" With that, Hermione let out a sound not unlike Crookshanks did when someone stepped on his tail and stood up, whisking the loose sundress over her head to reveal a modest blue one piece bathing suit. She kicked off her sandals and ran for the dock, launching herself into the pond with grim determination. Once in the water, she arrowed straight for Ron, dove under the water and pulled him under, cutting off his laughter.

He came up spluttering and once he'd gotten his hair out of his face, he grinned and dove at her with a splash, causing her to shriek and take evasive action. Harry watched his two best friends and smiled, shaking his head. He glanced over at Ginny and saw she was smiling too. Their eyes met and for a moment, Harry quite forgot to breathe. He felt sure he was turning red and didn't know what to do, so he dove back down under the water, avoiding the splashing Ron and Hermione.

When he resurfaced, he saw Ginny poised at the edge of the dock in a bright green one-piece suit. She sat down and gently eased into the water and swam over to Harry. "You didn't jump in," Harry observed.

"No. I don't like to jump straight into cold water like this. Once I get used to it, I'll jump in." She pinched her nose shut and dunked her head. "This feels marvelous, though. I could stay in here all day." Ron and Hermione had finally finished their water fight and swam over to join them, looking quite breathless.

The rest of the afternoon passed with lunch, after which Hermione insisted they wait at least an hour before going back into the water. "I should make you wait two hours Ron, you certainly ate enough for two people." They lolled around on the blankets and Harry found he had gotten over his initial shyness of being around Ginny with no shirt on. He also found that he could not bring himself to dwell on the fact that the only thing Ginny was wearing was her bright green bathing suit and she was sitting not three feet away from him.

True to her word, once Ginny had gotten used to the water, she spent a lot of time jumping off of the dock in an attempt to win a cannonball contest. Her slight form failed to create much of a splash, but Harry enjoyed watching her throw her body off the edge of the dock with great abandon. At last the sun began to go down and the day cooled. Harry found his tee shirt neatly folded on the blanket with his glasses on top and put them both on, somewhat relieved to see the world move back into focus. After a shower and huge Mrs. Weasley dinner, Harry felt like he'd had the best day in a very long time.

Now, hearing the giggles coming from Ginny's room, he wondered what they were up to. He ran the rest of the way up the stairs and burst into Ron's room. His friend was sprawled out on his bed, fully clothed and fast asleep. "Hey, wake up!" Harry punched him in the shoulder, startling him awake.

"What? What's going on Harry?" Sleepy blue eyes glared up at him and Ron ran his fingers through his too long hair.

"I think the girls are up to something. Let's go see, yeah?"

"Up to something? Like what?" Ron sat up on his bed and swung his long legs to the floor, curiosity overcoming him.

"I dunno. They're in Ginny's room sounding all giggly." Harry shrugged and sneaked a look at himself in the mirror above Ron's dresser. "I got burnt today." He took a closer look and sure enough, his nose and cheeks were reddened and a bit sore. Ron's face appeared next to his and scowled.

"I can feel the freckles coming out," Ron groaned, peering closely at his already generously freckled face. Harry saw his long nose and cheeks were quite red as well. "Oh well, can't help it. Come on, let's see what's up."

As quietly as they could, they moved down the stairs until they reached Ginny's door. They stood still outside and listened closely. Not hearing anything, Ron looked quizzically at Harry who shrugged in return. They were about to turn away when the door burst open, startling them both. "Christ!" Ron exclaimed loudly as he and Harry jumped back across the landing.

Ginny stood there, looking like she was trying not to laugh and failing miserably. "Oh Ron, you're lucky Mum's not here or you'd catch it for sure!"

"As it is, he's going to catch it from me!" Hermione joined Ginny at the door and fixed Ron with a furious look. "Ron! You know better than to use language like that!" She had her mouth open to say more, but Ron interrupted her.

"Lay off Janie," he grumbled irritably, earning a sharp gasp from Hermione.

Hoping to head off another argument between the two, Harry cut in. "What are you two doing in there anyway? I passed by earlier and you two were giggling up a storm."

Ginny shyly looked down at her feet. "Nothing. Just looking at a book of Hermione's"

"Yeah? Is it dirty?" Ron turned his attention from the still angry looking Hermione to his sister, seeing a blush spread across her face.

"No! It's not dirty, it's interesting."

"Interesting?" Ron looked over at Harry and raised his eyebrows. "Well, come on, let's have a look." He pushed his way past the girls into the room and they looked in amazement at each other and then glared at Ron. "What?"

"You can't just barge in here and start bossing us around," Ginny said indignantly, crossing her arms over her chest.

Ron sighed loudly. "Okay, fine. Please Ginny, can Harry and I take a look at this book you and Hermione were looking at?"

Hermione and Ginny rolled their eyes and relented. "Fine." They moved back to Hermione's bed and sat down cross-legged. Harry came in and he and Ron mimicked the girls' positions on Ginny's bed. Hermione picked up a small book and handed it to Ron who quickly flipped through it.

"There's no pictures, just a bunch of questions. This doesn't look dirty." Ron sounded disappointed and handed it back to Hermione.

"I didn't say it was dirty. And it's called The Book of Questions. It's by a Muggle named Gregory Stock." Hermione corrected him imperiously.

"That's it? What's the point?"

"The point is that they are all very interesting, thought provoking questions. A lot of 'what-if' situations. It's really quite revealing about the person who answers the questions." Hermione's voice filled with the enthusiasm she usually reserved for her favorite school subjects and Harry and Ron looked skeptically at each other.

Catching their look, Ginny grinned at them. "They're really good questions. Let's take turns asking and answering!"

"Okay," Harry said, returning her smile and feeling that warmth suffuse his body again.

"This had better not be anything like class. I'm on holiday," Ron grumbled as he shifted position, leaning his back against the wall and stretching out his long legs in front of him.

"All right, I'll ask first." Hermione took the book back from Ron and paged through it for a few minutes before settling on a question. "Okay, Ron, _'Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire; after saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make a final dash to save any one item. What would it be?'_ "

Ron blanched at the thought of his beloved Burrow catching fire and burning to the ground and he sat quietly for a minute, brow scrunched up in concentration. "Well," he began slowly, "only one item?" Hermione nodded and looked at him with interest. "Hm. Okay, I know. My Cleansweep. No wait, not that. My autographed Chudley Cannons program." Hermione raised an eyebrow and Ron shook his head. "No, I got it. Because the house would be on fire, yeah? And my room is up at the top, so it would have to be something on the ground floor." He snapped his fingers and smiled. "Got it. Mum's clock." Ginny beamed at him and nodded approvingly.

"Interesting choice Ron. What do you think that says about you?" Hermione asked him, leaning her elbows on her knees.

"I think it says I'm terrified that if I came out with my broom or some daft program Mum would chuck me back into the fire!" The four friends howled with laughter at the vision of an enraged Molly Weasley shouting at her youngest son for saving an easily replaced broom instead of a precious family heirloom.

Hermione passed the book to Ginny and she began to page through it. "Hey, no fair! It's my turn to ask a question!" Ron protested loudly.

Ginny stuck her tongue out at her brother and continued to look at the questions. "Girls get to ask questions before loud brothers that barge into their room!" Harry saw Ginny's eyes light up and he felt his stomach start to squirm. "Here's something for our Harry: _'When did you last yell at someone? Why? Did you later regret it?'_ "

The squirming became an uncomfortable tumbling and he felt his face go hot. His friends were looking at him expectantly and all he wanted to do was disappear. He knew exactly when the last time he'd yelled at someone was and he did very much regret it. He was quiet so long the other three began to look at each other. Ron reached out his hand to Harry. "You okay, mate?"

Brought out of his reverie, Harry nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Harry, you don't have to answer," Ginny began, but Harry cut her off.

"It's okay, Gin. I'll answer the question. Just give me a minute." He sighed and closed his eyes. It would be easier if he didn't have to look at them. "Okay, the last time I yelled at someone was right after the Department of Mysteries. I yelled at him because I felt he was withholding information from me that I felt I needed to know. I regret it because I respect this person very much and I don't think he deserved to be treated the way I treated him. I know he had his own reasons for not telling me everything, but I was too upset at the time to listen to reason."

He opened his eyes and looked down at the yellow bedspread. He was breathing fast but felt the lump he'd been carrying around in his chest loosen a little. Harry hadn't told them everything about what happened after that terrible night and he wasn't sure if he ever would, but sharing even that little bit made him feel better. He caught Ron and Hermione sharing a significant glance out of the corner of his eye and was glad not to be besieged by further questions from them.

"Your turn, Harry," Ginny said softly, handing the book across to him. Harry took it and began to look through the questions, raising his eyebrows at some of them. "Okay, I think I've got one. Ready, Gin? _'If you could take a one-month trip anywhere in the world and money were not a consideration, where would you go and what would you do?'_ "

Ginny clapped her hands and giggled, the sound triggering another feeling of warmth in Harry. "Oh, I'd go to Romania and hang out with Charlie. Or to Egypt with Bill."

"Romania? Egypt? Come on Ginny, you can do better than that. Think of it, no worries about money at all! Why would you want to hang around with boring brothers when you could really live it up?" Ron looked at Ginny with an incredulous look on his face.

"Yeah, come on Gin. You've already been to Egypt anyway! The sky's the limit, yeah?" Harry leaned forward eagerly, visualizing Ginny walking on a white sand beach in her green bathing suit, the wind blowing her red hair back from her face. She heard a sound and she turned and smiled brightly at him, holding out her hand...Harry was abruptly jolted out of his daydream when he realized she was talking.

"I've read about New Zealand in Muggle studies and it sounds like a fascinating place. I would want to go somewhere were they speak English, of course and though they do sound awful funny, I'm sure I could understand them. You can do anything you want there. They have mountains, beaches, jungles, cities. Their seasons are reversed from ours! I would go during Christmas and have a picnic on the beach and sing Christmas carols!" They all laughed at the idea of it being warm enough to go to the beach on a Christmas day and Harry grinned at Ginny, imagining her still in her green bathing suit, but now with a red Father Christmas hat perched on top of head. While he was involved in his latest vision, Ron grabbed the book out of his hand.

"Finally! Okay, Hermione Jane, let's see what we can ask you." He studied the book for a few minutes and his face suddenly brightened. "I think I know how you're going to answer this one, but I'm going to ask it anyway. _'If you want to a beach and it turned out to be a nude beach, would you stay and go swimming? Would you swim nude?'_ " Ron and Harry both looked up at her expectantly, grinning in anticipation of her answer. Ginny seemed only mildly curious and Harry noticed her stealing the occasional glance at him.

"Thought you would embarrass me, did you? Little do you know that I've already had that experience." Ron's eyebrows shot up to his hairline and he exchanged looks with Harry. Wow, Hermione on a nude beach!

"You've been to a nude beach? Where?" Ron's voice cracked slightly on the last word and he cleared his throat, his face coloring a little where it wasn't already sunburned.

"Well, it wasn't completely nude, but it was topless. In France when I went on holiday with Mum and Dad. Most of the beaches are like that there. They're much more free with ... those sorts of things than we are here." Hermione looked primly back at the boys and smiled.

"So, did you ..." Ron began.

"Did I what?"

"You know. Go along with ... the crowd?" Harry couldn't stop himself from snorting with laughter and he caught Ginny's eye. He could see she was having a hard time of it too.

"No I didn't go along with the crowd! I was twelve! Honestly Ron!"

"Well, wasn't it weird, being around all those ... people?" Harry saw that the tips of Ron's ears were quite red and he knew his friend was more embarrassed by the question than Hermione was, but was burning with curiosity at the whole idea of women hanging about on a beach in France with no tops on.

"I suppose it was weird at first, but I got used to it. After a while it's no big thing. I did think about ... joining in, but there wouldn't have been much point, would there? Not much had ... happened by that point." Hermione clapped her hand over her mouth and her eyes grew big. "I can't believe I just said that!" She buried her face in Ginny's shoulder and screamed. Harry and Ron took one look at her and erupted into howls of laughter.

"Oh God, 'not much had happened by that point,'" Ron mimicked in a high voice and he fell over laughing again.

"Stop it! Give me that bloody book!" Hermione stood up from the bed and grabbed it out of Ron's weak grasp, paging through furiously. "Here we are." Harry quailed when he saw her eyes light up with an unholy glee. Ron was still laughing, but he had a feeling that it would not last for long. "Listen up, Ronald Bilius, _'Have you had satisfying sex within the last three months?'_ "

Ron's laughing abruptly ceased and he stared at her, mouth still slightly open. "What kind of question is that? That's not on there. Let me see." Hermione handed him the book open to the page. "I'll be damned." He handed the book back and squirmed uncomfortably. They were all staring at him and even though Harry was sure what the answer was, he was curious about what Ron would actually say to Hermione and his sister.

"Well, um, I suppose that would depend on your definition of sex, I guess." Ron looked around the room, his eyes landing briefly on Hermione before skittering away to something else.

"I would define it as intercourse with a person of the opposite sex, Ron. What would you define it as?" Hermione said sharply.

"Yeah, thought you would." Ron took a deep breath and steeled himself. "No, I haven't."

"No?"

"Well, not the way you define it. But, I have had a satisfying experience or two-"

"Dozen," Harry cut in with a mischievous grin, earning a hard look from Ron.

"Or TWO in the last three months."

"Oh, disgusting! I don't need to know this about my brother!" Ginny fell backwards on the bed and hid her face.

"Now how about you Janie?" Ron asked, his long nose positively twitching.

"Oh no you don't! It's not your turn to ask me a question!"

"Fine then, I'll wait until it's my turn again."

"No! You can't ask a question someone else has already asked!"

"Who says?"

"I say! It's my book and my rules!" Hermione was starting to look a little frazzled and Harry felt sorry for her.

"Lay off, Ron. Besides, I'm sure there something in there you can find that's just as embarrassing." Harry punched his friend in the shoulder and got a smile in return.

"I think I'm scarred for life," Ginny mumbled as she sat back up and took the book from Hermione. She quickly scanned the questions and smiled. "Here, this shouldn't be too controversial. _'If, by having a 2 inch by 2 inch tattoo, you could save 5 lives and prevent a terrorist attack, would you do so? If you were allowed to select the location and design, where would you have it and what would the design be?'_ "

"Absolutely," Harry replied with no hesitation. "If one little tattoo would do that much, I'd have more than one. Maybe I can tattoo Voldemort out of existence." The other three laughed a little nervously at Harry's joke, still not overly enamored of the dark one's name.

"What would it be of?" Ginny asked gently.

Harry thought for a moment, thinking of and discarding various ideas in his head. "I would have a phoenix feather," he said finally. "Just there." He put his left hand near his right shoulder blade. "Well, I can't quite reach, but on my back there, on my shoulder."

"Wouldn't you want it somewhere you could see it?" Hermione asked quizzically.

Harry shrugged. "I don't think so. I wouldn't need to see it all the time to know it's there, yeah? I don't think I'd want it where everyone else could see it all the time, either." He looked shyly up at Ginny and saw a speculative look on her face and he shot her a quick smile and ducked his head again, reaching for the book.

He flipped through it, taking his time this time around and finally smiled. "All right Gin, _'What do you value most in a relationship?'_ "

"A relationship? What sort of relationship?"

"I dunno, it doesn't say."

"Well, I suppose I would value different things in different kinds of relationships." Ginny paused and re-crossed her legs, picking at a loose thread on the bedspread. "In a relationship with a friend," she smiled at Hermione, "I value loyalty. With family, along with loyalty, I value kindness, even if I do have six brothers that tend to act like gits most of the time." She fixed Ron with a narrow eyed glare and he attempted to look casual and nonchalant. She didn't say anything more and looked back down at the spread, fingers still casually working the thread.

Harry let out a long breath and screwed up his courage. "What about a different kind of relationship, you know, a ... romantic one?"

Ginny looked back up at him with an unfathomable look in her brown eyes and Harry found himself completely unaware of anyone else in the room, his breathing loud in his ears. "In a relationship with a ... lover," Ginny's voice tripped over the word slightly, "I value loyalty, kindness, honesty and ... passion." She finished in a near whisper, her eyes still fixed unwaveringly on Harry's.

The moment seemed to stretch on until he was brought rudely back to Earth by the gruff voice of Ron. "Oi, mate, some of us are still waiting our turns and revenge." He shoved Harry slightly and he shook his head as if coming out of a daze. The book was snatched out of his limp grasp and Ron began paging through it gleefully. Ginny was no longer looking at Harry and gazed at her brother instead, her brow creased in a slight frown. "Aha! Hermione Jane, _'If you wanted to look very sexy, how would you dress?'_ "

"I'm not going to answer that one! Give me another question! That one has nothing to do with anything interesting about me at all!"

Ron shook his head adamantly. "Nuh-uh. Answer the question. I, for one think your answer will say quite a lot about you."

Hermione appealed to Ginny and Harry. "You know he's asking those questions because he's a randy git! Honestly! Nude beaches and sexy dressing?"

Harry and Ginny exchanged looks and smiled. Harry shook his head. "I'm sorry Hermione. Those questions are in the book and they are legitimate. You have to answer."

Ginny nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, you have to answer and I have to admit that I am curious about your answer. Except for the yule ball fourth year, we've never seen you in anything except Muggle clothes or school robes."

Ron looked at her triumphantly. "Ha! Come on, answer the question."

Hermione sprang up from the bed and walked over by Ginny's small desk and began to walk between the desk and the door in an agitated fashion. "Honestly, my best friends!" She stopped and faced Ron and Harry could see her gathering her resolve. Harry knew she could never resist a challenge and he fought to hide a grin. Ron wouldn't know what hit him. "Okay, Weasley. If I wanted to look _very_ sexy, I suppose I would have to get my hair under control." She took her long, rather bushy hair and wound it into a bun, taking a quill from Ginny's desk and thrusting it through to make it stay. She didn't get quite all of the hair and Harry could see some loose strands floating around her face. Next to him, he heard Ron let out a little wheezing sound and Harry stole a quick glance at him. His best mate's blue eyes were fixed on Hermione and his lips were slightly parted, his freckles standing out starkly on his sunburned skin.

"As for what to wear," Hermione's normally summer-tan skin looked flushed and her eyes were bright. Her lips were parted as well and Harry raised his eyebrows when he saw her pink tongue dart out to moisten them. "For what to wear, the sexiest thing I can think of at the moment is that Chudley Cannons tee shirt you've got on right now, Ron."

Hermione stood stock-still and Harry felt the breath he had been holding explode out of him. The sound seemed to goad Hermione into action and she threw an anguished look at Ginny and fled from the room. "Bloody hell," Ron muttered as he sprang from the bed and ran after her.

"Did you just see ..." Harry looked at Ginny and saw her eyes were wide. She nodded slowly and grinned, jumping up and running to her window that overlooked the moonlit back garden of the Burrow. Joining her, Harry saw a small figure with what looked like a feather in her hair dart out followed a moment later by a larger one. Both figures ran towards the pond, the larger one easily closing the distance.

When the two figures merged into one, Ginny sighed happily and turned away from the window, taking Harry's arm and pulling him away. "Give them their privacy. They won't get it at school."

Feeling shell shocked, Harry sat down heavily on the bed next to Ginny. "Bloody hell," he breathed, feeling a laugh begin to bubble out of him. Ginny began to laugh as well and they lay back on the bed, helpless in their mirth. He took off his glasses and wiped the tears that had run down his cheeks and made to put them back on.

"No, leave them off," Ginny said softly, stilling his movements with her small hand.

Puzzled by her odd request, he frowned and asked, "Why?" While not completely blind without his glasses, he'd found he could develop a splitting headache if he went without them for too long and knew he'd already pushed it this afternoon at the pond.

"I like to see you without them occasionally. Besides, I'm going to read the last question." They were still lying on the bed, facing each other now and Harry could feel her breath tickle the hair of his fringe. She was close enough to him to be in a kind of soft focus and the lamplight in the room gave her hair a kind of glow. She had the book again and quickly found the question she wanted to ask. " _'If you could script the basic plot for the dream you will have tonight, what would the story be?_ '"

Harry could see Ginny waiting expectantly for his answer, her eyes looking straight into his. A boldness he didn't know he had seemed to take over his mind and body. "Well, Gin ... it would go something like this." He propped himself up on his elbow and took the small book out of her hands, tossing it carelessly on the other bed. Slowly, he leaned forward and closed the distance between them, his lips meeting hers in a sweet, soft kiss.


End file.
